1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a content transmission apparatus, a content reception apparatus, and a content transmission/reception system used for watching of a television broadcast.
2. Description of the Related Art
As one broadcast content delivery system, a watching system having placeshifting capability and called “LocationFree” (Registered Trademark of Sony Corporation) that allows users to watch television broadcasts with high flexibility in watching place has been put into practical use. Minimum components of the placeshifting watching system are a base station, which is a content transmission apparatus installed in a user's home, and a reception apparatus (also referred to as a LocationFree player or a client) that provides, to the user, video and audio to be watched or listened to.
When a television antenna is connected to the base station, the user is able to watch a television broadcast being broadcast anywhere in the home in real time due to a wireless communication capability of the base station. When a DVD recorder or a hard disk recorder is connected to the base station, the base station is capable of transmitting a video reproduced thereby in a wireless manner. Moreover, the base station is capable of converting a received television broadcast into a digital signal, compressing video thereof using MPEG2 (Moving Picture Experts Group Phase 2), AVC (Advanced Video Coding) (H.264), MPEG4, or the like in real time while compressing audio thereof using AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), MPEG Audio, or the like in real time, and transmitting the compressed data over the Internet. Thus, the user is able to watch the television broadcast wherever he or she is, even in a foreign country, with a reception apparatus, which receives the compressed data transmitted.
Examples of such reception apparatuses include portable game machines, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable personal computers (laptop PCs), portable LCD monitors, mobile phones, and other portable devices. When a TV Box (a brand name used by Sony Corporation), which is capable of outputting a received broadcast content to a television receiver as a video output, is used as the reception apparatus, the user is able to watch the broadcast content with a common television receiver.
For example, WO03/098960 (Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-506308, hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1) describes a system that allows a user to use a display apparatus that works as the reception apparatus to remotely control AV equipment connected to the base station.